Private varsity bill to be introduced with reservation clause

MUMBAI: A week after Governor K Sankaranarayanan declined to give assent to the controversial bill to provide for setting up self-finance universities, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will introduce the bill afresh with a special clause to provide for reservation for backward class students.

Recently, when Chavan and the higher and technical education minister separately called on Sankaranarayanan, he made it clear to them that he was rejecting the proposal, since there was no reservation clause in the bill. "Chavan has written to the governor that his government is committed to provide reservation in self-financed varsities and that a new bill, which will provide for reservation in self-financed universities, will be introduced during the winter session,'' a senior bureaucrat told TOI on Monday.

In August 2011, the state legislature passed the controversial bill for setting up self-financed universities. However, there was no debate on the crucial bill since there were disruptions in the wake of the agitation against the Jaitapur nuclear power plant.

While introducing the bill, higher and technical education minster Rajesh Tope had said that his government was in favour of setting up self-financed universities, mainly for promoting centres of excellence and also that there was no burden on the state exchequer if such institutions were set up. "Our aim is to promote centres of excellence. Existing private colleges were also eligible for setting up self-financed universities. Permission for such institutions would be granted after the proposal is approved by a scrutiny committee,'' Tope said.

A day after the bill was passed and submitted to the Governor for his assent, Dalit leader Ramdas Athavale and former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan knocked on the doors of Raj Bhavan, urging that the proposal be rejected as there was no provision for reservation to backward class students. Subsequently, the governor had a series of meetings with the CM and Tope over non-provision of reservation in the self-financed universities. "During the meetings, the Governor felt that it will be wrong if there is no reservation for backward class students. In view of Chavan's specific letter, now it appears that decks have been cleared for reservation in the self-financed varsities,'' the bureaucrat said.

When asked as to why the reservation clause was not introduced when the bill was being drafted or prior to introduction in both houses, the bureaucrat said, in certain quarters, doubts were expressed over the entry of leading industrial houses if there are reservations for the backward class students.